


Silver Winds

by queercosmos (i_feel_electric)



Series: The Edge of the World, Dipped in Gold [1]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Universe - Pirate, Dialogue Heavy, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, M/M, Meet-Cute, also i wrote a sea shanty for this pls appreciate, and have feelings, basically slice of life but with pirates, but mild! i promise, i meant it when i said dialogue heavy, promptis talk a lot, this is still fluff central
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-13
Updated: 2019-10-13
Packaged: 2020-12-14 20:23:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,968
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21021743
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/i_feel_electric/pseuds/queercosmos
Summary: "The life of a pirate held no assurances, he’d always known that. The problem was that Noctis had never been able to decide who was better off. The sailor who courted adventure and death and discovery, or the boy who’d settled for safety in hesitation."Noctis has his life changed irrevocably by a motley crew of misfits. And, perhaps, finds something he didn't quite expect along the way.





	Silver Winds

**Author's Note:**

> this is my first time writing for ffxv, and writing for a new fandom in general. which was anxiety-inducing as all hell, but still incredibly fun. and also hopefully enjoyable to read? idk, you tell me lol
> 
> endless thanks to mouse and @misstonberry on twitter for being awesome and helping me through this :)

“Oi, watch it!”

“Watch this, you useless swab!”

“Well, I ain’t been swingin’ the lead all day.”

“Aye, you been makin’ eyes at our dear quartermaster like a right wench, is what you been doin’.”

“If either of you don’t get to work immediately, I’ll have you lot scraping barnacles off the keel until your hands bleed.”

_ As unforgiving as ever _. Noctis squinted up from the dock, a roll of parchment clutched in one hand, the other shielding his eyes from the sun’s glare. All around him The Adagium’s crew moved--back and forth over the creaking wood as they finished mooring the large and impressive vessel. It wasn’t the first time Noctis had been in its presence, nor would it be the last. Yet its billowing turquoise sails always managed to take a bit of his breath away.

“Miss Highwind,” he called above the constant, busy noise of the harbor. The quartermaster turned to peer over the gunwale and Noctis waved slightly as his arm dropped. “If you’d be so kind.”

She spared him a crooked smile. “But of course, Master Caelum.”

Noctis ducked his head and barely stopped himself from rolling his eyes. He wasn’t master of a goddamn thing. He was a mere underling to Galvenn Harbor’s master attendant, nothing more. All because he knew his letters better than most. Not that Noctis was bitter, or anything, the clerical work afforded him more freedom than the average dock worker. More money, less manual labor. That was a landslide win in his book, if there ever was one.

Barked orders preceded quartermaster Highwind’s arrival as she came sauntering down the gangplank, long silver hair whipping in the wind behind her. Quite a sight to behold up close. The frayed tricorn hat that spouted exotic feathers; a pale, jagged scar that ran from brow to chin. The bangles hanging off her leather coat that clinked together wildly with every booted step. 

Noctis knew she never wore it when they were at sea, the risk of the decorations getting caught on something far too great. And he knew, because she’d drunkenly confessed to him one night at The Syren’s Rest that she did it mostly for aesthetic reasons. To satisfy her vanity, she’d said first. Followed by, “It’s all part of the game, isn’t it? Tricking others into underestimating you. If I peacock around enough, the poor sods who think they can betray me will be in for the surprise of their lives.”

Which made a kind of sense, he supposed. For the life of a pirate.

“The usual again, Master Caelum?” quartermaster Highwind asked once she’d reached him.

Noctis nodded and handed over the parchment--a requisition form given to all ships that docked here. She plucked it from his grasp with tattooed fingers and another crooked smirk.

“Just have it sent to the master attendant’s office by nightfall,” he added needlessly. It was the same song and dance every few months, anyway. “You, um--” he started and then stopped, tucking a stray, windswept lock of hair behind his ear. “You can call me Noctis, you know.”

Quartermaster Highwind’s sharp, green eyes appraised him briefly.

“I suppose that means you’d like to call me Aranea, then?”

Noctis allowed himself a small smirk of his own. “Only if it doesn’t offend your vanity.”

She threw her head back with the force of her throaty laughter, startling some of the nearby crewmembers into silence at the sound.

“A wit like yours is wasted on the docks, Noctis,” Aranea told him, still chuckling. “We could always use one more smartass on board The Adagium.”

His smile grew wider before it fell and he sighed.

“Thank you, but no.”

“Suit yourself.” She shrugged. “Will I see you at our favorite watering hole this evening?”

“It’s tradition now, isn’t it? Gladio and Ignis would have me flogged if I missed out,” Noctis answered dryly.

“Like it’s such a hardship to spend time with us. We’re the best company you’ve ever had, admit it.”

He did roll his eyes now, earning himself a quick smack of the rolled parchment against the top of his head.

“Shit, _ okay _,” Noctis cried and stumbled away when she went for another hit. “I’ll be there.”

Aranea began to step backwards towards the ship. “If you aren’t, we’ll come smash your door down.”

He snorted, folding his arms over his chest. “You don’t even know where I live,” he called after her.

“We’re pirates, Master Caelum,” she answered, wearing a devilish grin. “The location of your house has been common knowledge for ages.”

Which might have worried him, if he had anything worth looting.

Noctis watched her go, Aranea weaving easily through the jumbled mix of dock workers and fellow pirates alike before she disappeared onto the deck. He was about to turn and leave himself, when he caught a familiar flash of gold from the corner of his eye. 

Captain Izunia stood tall beside the helm, his broad frame towering over a young man Noctis had seen many times, but never spoken to. His name was Prompto, something he’d only learned from Ignis after several rounds of drinks. Not even Aranea had given him many details beyond that and Gladio none at all. After two years of their comings and goings in Galvenn, they still refused to talk, and Noctis couldn’t make heads or tails of any of it.

It was especially strange, because he only ever saw the mysterious blonde the day they arrived and the day they weighed anchor. A week’s time, during their shorter visits. More, when The Adagium underwent repairs or needed her keel scrubbed clean, and not _ once _ did he see Prompto anywhere. Like he vanished into thin air as soon as he stepped foot on dry land.

From where he stood, Noctis couldn’t make out much, but he certainly heard the volume of Captain Izunia’s voice as Prompto was openly reprimanded. The closed off expression on Prompto’s face didn’t waver at all, he just stood there and took it. An everyday occurrence, confirmed by the way the other crewmembers pointedly went about their business, like it wasn’t happening.

Noctis bit at the inside of his cheek, uncomfortable despite not even being involved. Captain Izunia’s voice echoed a bit louder over the general din and faded, the breeze carrying off the last of his sharp words. It struck Noctis then, as he turned on his heel to go, that he didn’t have an explanation for why it bothered him so much. _ Why _ he cared about someone he’d never met.

On the surface, the fact that Prompto was...very attractive didn’t hurt. It was the reason he’d started looking, at least, and Noctis would never forget standing on the docks as The Adagium first pulled into port. Prompto had leaned over the gunwale, that crest of golden hair catching fire in the sunlight as he took everything in. A few longer strands hung down below his bared shoulders and they were threaded with vibrant beads the same color as The Adagium’s sails. His sun-pinkened skin, covered in freckles. His eyes, an odd shade of blue Noctis had no name for.

At the risk of sounding ridiculous, it was like he’d discovered some kind of mythical creature. A sea nymph that dissipated into ocean spray against the rocks and unbalanced Noctis in ways he couldn’t even begin to describe.

The reason Noctis kept looking, however, was for a very different reason. Because every time The Adagium and her crew arrived in Galvenn, it became difficult to ignore the shadow that dogged Prompto’s steps wherever he went, swallowing up all that light. Even harder to describe was the impression it left on Noctis--one that always lingered long after they’d gone.

Of course, Ignis had been no help at all whenever he asked. He’d learned they were all close friends months ago, but the best he got were scraps of trivial information. Hardly enough to form a picture of a person. Noctis suspected Ignis did it on purpose.

Shaking his head free of the thought, he wove his own path from the crowded docks to the master attendant’s office at the other end of the harbor. The lively wind tugged at his open waistcoat and made a royal mess of his hair. He’d have to retie it before he went to meet the others at The Syren’s Rest or he’d probably never hear the end of it. They enjoyed teasing him so much, after all. 

Noctis would be a liar if he pretended not to enjoy it. The casual friendship offered by Aranea, Gladio, and Ignis had been an unexpected buoy in his life. Just what he’d needed to stay afloat of the monotony. The repetitive nature of the world.

At the top of the steps leading up to the office, he stopped to peer out across the rows of other ships to find The Adagium’s flamboyant turquoise sails. Noctis couldn’t tell yet what her presence meant, even after these last two years. Would she become an added layer to the monotony? To the ebb and flow of the harbor and all its many faces. Or would she vanish one day like ocean spray against the rocks, never to be seen again?

A strange sadness fell over him at the possibility. The life of a pirate held no assurances, he’d always known that. The problem was that Noctis had never been able to decide who was better off. The sailor who courted adventure and death and discovery, or the boy who’d settled for safety in hesitation.

“Stop feeling sorry for yourself,” Noctis muttered, roughly shoving away the hair in his face.

He turned his back on the sprawling view and pushed through the heavy wooden door to the office, leaning against it once it fell shut.

“Noctis, is that you?” Weskham’s voice floated out from the back room.

“Yes, sir,” he called, releasing a long breath. “Be there in a minute.”

Pulling the tie from his hair, Noctis hastily re-gathered the windswept strands and fastened them loosely at the base of his neck. He could drown his woes in ale later. That, and Gladio would probably have a hundred new stories to tell of his daring heroism and unbridled idiocy. Embellished to hell and back, of course, but it was always the stories that Noctis carried with him for the long stretches they were at sea.

This promise of good company and good drink had him finally squaring his shoulders and returning to work. Only a few more hours to go. He could soldier through, mind-numbing tedium be damned.

  
  


❀⊱┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄⊰❀

  
  


The port city of Galvenn was not the largest port city, nor was it the smallest. Its prime location in the middle of Southern waters, however, did make it one of the busiest. Whether by fate or coincidence, Noctis had grown up further inland--an insignificant farming village in the unchanging and unending plains of Bellworth. He’d escaped as soon as he’d saved up enough coin, though. Enough naïve and idealistic dreams of open waters rattling around inside his head. Noctis was only fifteen then. He’d long since forgiven himself for the delusions of grandeur and over time, came to appreciate his lot in life.

At least, that’s what he kept telling himself. What could he possibly be unhappy about? The entire world came straight to his doorstep, didn’t it? Merchants from distant lands, sailors in the Royal Navy from the colder, Northern realms, pirate crews and privateers. Hundreds of lives Noctis would never live and yet they were an inextricable part of the one he already had.

So what, if he stayed in Galvenn until his hair turned gray? Forever watching the ships glide in and out of the harbor, but never going with them. Besides, he was almost twenty-seven now. The opportunity to change his mind had come and gone.

_ Another lie _.

Noctis grimaced as he shoved open the door of The Syren’s Rest, the bulk of his thoughts swallowed up by an explosion of raucous laughter and shouted conversations on all sides. The tavern wasn’t exactly tiny, but tonight The Adagium’s crew tested its limits by spilling into the empty spaces between already full tables. There were so many drunk pirates, Noctis would be surprised if at least one of them didn’t end up swinging from the chandeliers by last call.

“Finally! The man of the hour.”

A thick, muscled arm covered in dark ink landed heavily over his shoulders before his brain could even register the voice. 

“‘bout damn time,” Aranea grumbled from a table off to their left, shoving her empty tankard in his general direction. “We’ve ‘ad three rounds without you.”

Noctis took one look at the skewed angle of her tricorn hat and held in a laugh. He hadn’t noticed.

“Sorry, some of us work for a living,” he tossed back.

“Careful there, Noct. Them’s fightin’ words,” Gladio chuckled beside him.

The arm around his shoulders slipped away, replaced by a broad hand pushing him towards the closest vacant chair next to Ignis. Noctis stumbled into it, bringing him much closer to Aranea’s unimpressed, deadpan glare.

“And b’fore you say anythin’ about how I’m _ loaded to the gunwales _, I can still slice you nose t’navel ‘fore you can fuckin’ blink,” she informed him.

Ignis smiled slightly. “She is not using hyperbole, I assure you.”

Noctis leaned forward, elbows propped on the table as he returned Aranea’s glare. “Not too drunk to fight, but too drunk to take shit? That doesn’t sound like you, quartermaster.”

She narrowed her eyes at him for a moment, one of her fingers still pointed in the air between them. Aranea must have come to some kind of conclusion in the handful of seconds that passed, because she slumped back in her chair and kicked her booted feet up on the table like she wasn’t just thinking about flaying him alive.

“This s’why I like you, Caelum.”

He did laugh now. “Thanks? I guess.”

“All right.” Gladio’s hands dropped onto Noctis’s shoulders again. “With the threats out of the way, let’s get a tankard or two in this one.”

“A most excellent proposition,” Ignis agreed easily, something dancing in that pale green gaze.

A heavy wave of dread immediately washed over him. Which Noctis should have listened to, honestly, because not long after Gladio’s declaration, he found himself three sheets to the wind and subjected to a lively reenactment of Gladio trying to catch a strange lizard on some faraway island. Yet another creature of the world Noctis couldn’t hope to imagine accurately with a tale this damn tall. But where was the fun in accuracy when they were all too busy cackling to breathe?

“And then--” Gladio cut himself off to giggle somewhat uncontrollably, tears streaming from his eyes. The mountain of a man could hardly stand at this point, let alone make it through a full sentence. “And then I--”

“Would you like me to finish the story for you, Gladio?” Ignis chimed in when it seemed like Gladio might pass out from laughing so hard. “It’s not as though I haven’t heard it several hundred times since.”

“_ Hey _,” Gladio protested, taking in a huge lungful of air to calm himself as he wiped at his face. “You love my stories.”

The two of them shared a look Noctis couldn’t decipher. Not that he could see very clearly through his own happy tears. Then Ignis smiled into his tankard and remained silent.

“_ Well? _” Aranea demanded.

Shaking his head, Gladio sighed. “And then I lost sight of it.”

“That’s it?” Noctis asked.

“Gods above,” Aranea groaned, her limbs flopping out in all directions.

Gladio shrugged. “What can I say? Sometimes it’s the journey and not the destination, y’know?”

Without explanation, Noctis burst out laughing again, the whole situation so completely comical he couldn’t hold it in.

“Do you even listen to yourself?”

Ignis hummed in confirmation. “Didn’t you know? One of Gladio’s favorite hobbies is to hear himself talk.”

“You’re really askin’ for it, tonight, aren’t you,” Gladio growled as he went back to his seat.

“Whatever do you mean?” Ignis asked, that slight, teasing smile tugging at his lips again.

Most of the time, Gladio and Ignis were pretty good at hiding the true nature of their relationship. Not because it was frowned upon, really, that’s just how they were. Friendly enough on the surface, yet slow to trust. That, and he knew sharing personal details in their profession could cost you your life. Which Noctis respected, but he wasn’t so stupid that he couldn’t see what was right in front of him. Maybe his overall curiosity simply made it easier to look more and speak less. Noctis _ liked _ listening to the worn rhythm of their banter, anyway. How familiar it was. How effortless. Even when they were being more obvious than usual. 

“I’ll deal with you later, I’m getting more rum,” Gladio muttered, lumbering up from the chair he’d only just sat in.

“No, no more rum,” Aranea whined mindlessly. “No more. S’enough.”

Ignis sent Gladio a pointed look and set his tankard down on the wooden table with a thunk of finality.

“_ I _ will get the rum, why don’t you take our lovely quartermaster up to her room?”

“But I did it last time,” Gladio argued.

Noctis tried not to snort when Ignis rolled his eyes.

“Does it really matter?”

Gladio scowled and folded his arms over his chest. “Yeah, she doesn’t accidentally knee _ you _ in the face.”

“I promise to make it up to you,” Ignis replied smoothly.

“Iggy, you already owe me.”

“And I always settle my accounts, do I not?”

Aranea stirred across from them, moaning and practically half-asleep. “No...no more flirting. No more flirting an’ no more rum.”

Ignis raised a sharp eyebrow.

“Yeah, yeah.” Gladio brushed him off and went to haul Aranea up without another word.

Then, it was just the two of them. Well, the two of them and at least fifty inebriated pirates shouting across the room. Noctis glanced at Ignis, who sat there watching him calmly, one long leg crossed over the other. His leather boots gleamed faintly under the flickering candlelight, polished to perfection. Much like the rest of his clothing.

There had always been something of the upper class about Ignis. Something that was at direct odds with his peculiar sense of humor and current line of work. The callouses on his hands, skin browned by countless days laboring under the sun. Noctis hadn’t gained enough of their trust to earn their histories yet, so the mystery remained. Still, he wondered.

“Do you intend to sit there twiddling your thumbs all evening or are you going to ask?” Ignis picked up his tankard again, regarding Noctis with open amusement. “Gladio will only be absent so long.”

“Am I that easy to read?”

“Merely predictable.”

“Great.” Noctis smiled thinly, nodding. “Thanks.”

Ignis let out a sigh. “It wasn’t an insult, Noct.”

“Yeah, I know. It’s just been a strange day,” he explained.

It was silly, though, wasn’t it? A bit pathetic, even. Surely there were better uses of his time and energy than to worry about a stranger.

“Is it stupid that I always ask about him?” Noctis blurted, turning to Ignis despite the mild embarrassment fluttering around in his stomach. “I don’t-- I don’t even know him.”

The corner of Ignis’s mouth curled as he studied Noctis over the delicate rim of his glasses.

“Would it help to hear, perhaps, that you are not the only one who’s inquisitive?”

“What?” he blurted again, dumbly. Because that made absolutely no sense, why would Prompto have any reason to know of his existence, let alone have questions beyond that? _ Unless _...

Ignis sat there and laughed quietly, taking a long draught from his ale, apparently quite pleased with himself. Noctis couldn’t believe this.

“You _ told _ him about me?”

“A few tidbits, here or there. Nothing of consequence.” Ignis lifted a hand to wave it through the air. “I respect your privacy as much as his.”

All this time and he hadn’t even known. The revelation overwhelmed him, honestly. An emotional toss up between mortification or-- or the weirdest sense of relief he’d ever experienced.

“Ignis, you’re a real devil,” he said, which just made Ignis laugh a bit harder.

“Not the first time I’ve been called that.”

Noctis huffed. “Wonder why.”

“Forgive me for entertaining myself at your expense,” Ignis apologized, though his lips were still curved in a small smile. “Unfortunately, I cannot divulge what is not mine to tell. Prompto has his reasons. Perhaps one day you’ll learn of them.”

“It’d help if I could _ find _ him,” he replied.

Ignis merely shrugged.

“When he doesn’t want to be, it’s nigh impossible.”

“What’s impossible?” Gladio’s rough, booming voice cut into their conversation as he approached and Noctis startled.

“Nothing, _ darling _,” Ignis answered wryly.

Gladio’s dark eyes narrowed when he saw the table. “Thanks for getting the booze.”

This resulted in the broadest grin Ignis had ever worn.

“Entirely my pleasure.”

Shaking his head, Gladio stalked off towards the bar with an exasperated smile of his own, and Ignis went back to chuckling into his tankard. Maybe the ale had finally taken its toll. Or maybe this was an introduction to another side of the man Noctis hadn’t met yet.

Regardless, he all too happily accepted the glass of rum Gladio shoved under his nose a few minutes later. Conversation turned to the affairs of The Adagium and her crew. Details that hovered on the perimeter of Noctis’s concern and left him with little to add. Not that it mattered. Just being there was enough.

Although not even the best company he’d ever had could stop his jaw from cracking wide on that first yawn.

“I think I need to call it a night,” Noctis said through the second as he wavered in his seat.

Slouched comfortably on the other side of the table, Gladio snorted. “You don’t need me to carry you, too?”

“The way to my house is a bit more complicated than a flight of stairs.”

“I dunno, that sounds like a challenge to me,” Gladio replied, scratching at his beard.

“It’s not. Seriously.” Noctis moved to stand, and then laughed when it looked like Gladio might get up anyway. “_ Gladio _.”

“I’m kidding.” Gladio flashed him a wide smile. “Go on, get outta here.”

He nodded lazily, but before he could make it more than a couple steps, Ignis called after him.

“And be patient, Noct.”

Noctis looked over his shoulder and nodded again.

“Yeah.”

_ Easy _, he thought as he waded through the crowded bar to the door. He’d been waiting his whole life, what was a little more?

  
  
  


❀⊱┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄⊰❀

  
  


Despite the alcohol in his system and the moderate cover of his cravat, Noctis shivered as he walked along the perimeter of the harbor. He was an idiot for forgetting his coat this morning, in too much of a rush to notice. Especially this time of year. Nights stretched out too long now for the warmth of shorter days to linger. So he tucked his chilled fingers into his armpits and trudged onward. Past the hulking shadows of ships, darkened shop windows, the façade of the master attendant’s office that he’d probably be able to recreate with his eyes closed. Behind him, the sounds of drunken revelry dimmed to the point where all Noctis heard was water gently lapping against the dock posts.

Or it might’ve been, had he missed the strange noise off to his left. Something that wasn’t a common note in the daily chorus of the harbor.

Noctis paused, because he wasn’t actually sure he wasn’t hallucinating. It was faint, but...it sounded like someone, somewhere close by, was crying. The nearest lantern cut a bright swathe across the fronts of the buildings, leaving the alleyway between them dark. That had to be it. There was no one else on the path.

Stepping closer, he paused again to listen. A choked sob, the next one stifled. Noctis had been noticed.

“Are you--” He cleared his throat, inching further into the narrow alley. “Are you all right?”

The person sniffled. “Do I _ sound _ all right to you?”

Noctis winced. That was a really stupid question.

“Sorry.” He scratched at the back of his head. “Is there...anything I can do?”

The question was met with silence and he almost gave up on receiving an answer when another quiet sniff drifted up from the ground. Noctis’s vision had adjusted somewhat to the darkness now. He could make out the shape of his new, distraught friend huddled next to an old shipping crate, legs tucked in against their chest and head bowed.

“Why do you care?” they asked, suddenly looking up.

“I-- _ oh _.” 

His heartbeat stuttered, because he recognized the face peering back at him through the shadows, every word he knew flying clear out of his head. Noctis had never heard Prompto speak until this moment. He wasn’t sure what he’d been expecting, truthfully, but the rasp of emotion in Prompto’s voice reminded him what he was doing here.

“Uhh,” he started, struggling to dismiss all the things he’d imagined saying once they were face to face, since they no longer applied. “Good question.”

Noctis lowered into a crouch and nestled his chin in the palm of his hand. Across from him, Prompto hugged his legs a bit tighter. He didn’t have to overthink this.

“Basic human decency, I guess?” Noctis finally answered, shrugging.

Prompto coughed out a wry laugh. “You sure don’t sound like any dock worker I’ve ever met.”

“No.” He smiled. “But someone recently told me you already knew that.”

The shadows did nothing to hide the dawning mortification on Prompto’s face, which he immediately buried in his raised knees, and then groaned.

“Ugh, that _ bastard _.”

“Ignis isn’t that awful,” Noctis said. 

Prompto’s head shot up again, expression of mortification replaced by one of pure disbelief. Noctis couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Okay, he’s a little bit awful.”

“You have no idea,” Prompto replied, a tiny, rueful smile pulling at the edges of his mouth.

It was the first time he’d ever seen Prompto do anything other than scowl and his heart skipped another beat at the sight. A sliver of sunlight in the darkness.

“But…” Prompto released a heavy sigh as he continued. “Iggy’s also kind of the best. Gladio and Aranea, too. You, um, you spend a lot of time with them when we’re docked, right?”

Noctis nodded. “They’ve become my friends.”

“They’re good friends. When they’re not running a rig, anyway.”

He smiled again, a thousand questions bubbling up in his mind as he studied Prompto. There was just so much he wanted to know. Where did he hail from? How did he end up on The Adagium? What was his favorite moment out there on the high seas? Where had he been in the world? Then a violent shiver sliced right through his thoughts and he firmly tucked his hands back into his armpits.

“Shit, it’s _ cold _. Aren’t you freezing?” Noctis asked. Prompto was still in only a waistcoat. Nothing underneath.

“Too busy--” Prompto waved at his own face. “--doing this.”

Crying in a cold alley in the middle of the night. Noctis didn’t like it one bit. So he stood, jerking his head towards the street.

“Come on. I can make us coffee.”

Prompto stared at him blankly for a few seconds. 

“You mean go. With you?”

His brow furrowed. “Yeah?”

“You don’t have to do that, really, I-I’m fine, I--”

“Prompto,” Noctis insisted, the use of his name enough to shut him up. “It’s after midnight and you’re hiding behind boxes of--” he leaned over to check, but there was no identifying stamp on the outside, “--I don’t even know what. I’m not just gonna walk away.”

The look Prompto gave him in response suggested he had grown another head. Or maybe three. Noctis freed one of his hands and held it out across the narrow gap in invitation.

“Are you sure?” Prompto asked, eyeing his hand as though it might bite him.

He huffed. “I wouldn’t have offered otherwise.”

Hesitantly, Prompto reached out, his chilled fingers curling around Noctis’s wrist as Noctis hauled him up from the ground. He let his grip loosen and fall away, not wanting to make this situation more awkward than it had to be. Prompto gave him another ghost of a smile and Noctis quickly turned. He really shouldn’t stare, either.

“It’s not far,” he said instead, stepping out of the alley. “But it’s uphill almost the whole way.”

“I don’t mind,” Prompto replied.

Without thinking, Noctis looked back at him, catching the moment Prompto moved into the spill of lantern light. Well, he was definitely staring now.

“Uh...” Prompto frowned down at himself and brushed the dirt from his well-worn trousers. “I get snot on myself or something?”

A tight, fluttery sensation spread through Noctis’s stomach as he smiled and shook his head. 

“It’s nothing, you’re fine.”

“I’m probably a mess,” Prompto said, attempting a laugh, though it fell flat.

Noctis dropped his gaze, stuffing his hands back under his arms. “Then you’re a fine mess.”

He met Promtpto’s eyes briefly and then spun on his heel. “It’s this way,” he tossed over his shoulder, relatively certain the fluttery warmth in his stomach had migrated to his cheeks.

The damp cold made it difficult to tell and while the offer of coffee had been given impulsively, Noctis found that it was all he could think about. More specifically, coffee with Prompto. Who was right behind him as the path curved away from the harbor and started to climb, the cobblestones slick beneath his feet.

“Can I ask why you weren’t somewhere less wet and bleak?” Noctis suppressed another shiver just from saying it.

The wind picked up, probably to spite him, and the tree leaves rustled above, filling the silence between the quiet rows of houses along the road. At first, Prompto said nothing in response and Noctis slowed his pace until they were side by side, content to leave it at that if Prompto wanted to. They passed from one pool of lantern light to another and then back into shadow. Maybe there was nothing to say? But then a heavy sigh drew his attention.

“It’s hard,” Prompto said finally. “To get away from all the familiar faces around here, y’know? I didn’t really know where else to go.”

So being poorly dressed in a cold, dark alley was the only option? Noctis squinted at him.

“Is it too soon to call you an idiot?”

“No, it’s--” Prompto stopped and laughed, pushing his fingers through his hair as he sort of rolled his eyes and shook his head at the same time. “It’s never too soon for that, trust me.”

Noctis stared again, because he was quickly beginning to understand that his first impressions of Prompto had been...off target, to say the least. It was a pleasant revelation, though, and the mass of butterfly wings in his stomach seemed to agree.

“I do,” Noctis replied with ease. “Trust you, that is.”

Prompto’s freckled cheeks went an attractive shade of pink just as they stepped out of range of the last lantern.

“But you don’t-- I mean, we met fifteen minutes ago.”

“This way,” he said, gently taking Prompto by the elbow and guiding them towards the small, unlit lane where he lived. “It’s difficult to see. Be careful.”

Noctis didn’t let go once their feet left cobblestone for hard earth. There were a few rough patches and some exposed roots, but he’d memorized their locations years ago and no longer had to think about it.

“I, uh, still wanna know,” Prompto said, voice low.

The strange intimacy of the moment didn’t escape Noctis, what with the softness of Prompto’s skin under his fingertips. Their proximity, the seclusion of the trees closing in around them. Noctis steered them clear of one particularly large root and then stopped at the base of a flight of wooden stairs.

“I think the company you keep is enough of an endorsement,” he answered just as quietly.

“Really?” Prompto asked, actually sounding surprised.

Noctis’s mouth tilted down at the corners. Did the others not show Prompto how much they cared about him? It seemed like such an obvious thing from his perspective. They were all so protective, almost to a fault. He squeezed Prompto’s arm once, then let his hand drop, turning to give him what he hoped was an encouraging enough smile.

“Let’s just say your friends are very loyal.”

Even in the dark, Prompto’s face visibly brightened at hearing that. “Oh.”

Noctis’s stomach went tight and he turned back to the stairs, gesturing lamely towards the railing, because the sooner they were inside, the sooner he could find something to do with his hands. Something that replaced the urge to touch Prompto again. Noctis had no intentions of acting on his attraction, anyway. Not when Prompto probably needed comfort and safety most. Someone to listen.

“Watch your step on the way up, the stairs are uneven.”

“Right. Got it.”

The wooden planks creaked loudly as they went and Noctis hurried across the small front porch to open the door, ushering Prompto inside. When he closed the door and the stillness of the house settled over them, he became acutely aware of how surreal this was.

“I’ll get a fire going,” Noctis said. “If you keep heading straight you’ll run into the sofa.”

Eager for the distraction, he moved first, leaving Prompto in the front hall to weave his way through the darkened space. A bang echoed behind him a moment later.

“You actually meant that, didn’t you,” Prompto said, sounding pained.

Noctis winced. “Yeah, sorry,” he called from the kitchen. “It’s not a big house.”

“It’s okay. I like it.”

He opened the back door to collect some of the cut firewood stacked against the wall. “You can’t even see it.”

“So?” Prompto retorted.

Noctis laughed and shook his head, kicking the door shut, then wandered back into the sitting room. It took him a few tries to get the match lit, fingers stiff with cold despite his efforts to warm them, but soon a flame grew in the fireplace--eating away at the kindling to crackle and flicker between the bigger logs.

Still crouched on the floor, Noctis turned to Prompto, who was huddled at one end of the sofa, his boots already cast aside. He looked so tiny, tucked in on himself like that. Noctis tried not to frown again.

“Do you still like it?” he asked.

“Yeah.” Prompto shot him a quick grin before he craned his neck to glance around the sparsely decorated room. “It feels like you.”

“Small and poorly furnished?” Noctis tossed back.

Prompto snorted with amusement, the golden light of the fire reflecting in his strange eyes. _ Don’t stare _, he told himself. But it was difficult to look away.

“Um. Let me--” Noctis blinked rapidly to break the spell and then stood. “--get you a blanket.”

Those blue eyes followed him across the room until he disappeared into the murk of the unlit bedroom. _ Blankets _ . Noctis breathed through the flutter in his stomach. _ Right _. He kept a spare in the closet on the top shelf. A gift from his mother. She’d knit it herself before he left Bellworth and never looked back.

Memories flooded Noctis’s mind the moment his fingers touched the soft wool, but he brushed them aside almost as soon as they’d surfaced. Not exactly the time to get nostalgic.

“Here,” he offered, re-emerging from the bedroom and shaking it out.

Noctis draped it around Prompto’s shoulders, which resulted in Prompto tilting his head back to give Noctis his widest smile yet.

“Thanks.”

Any words he might have spoken in return dried up on his tongue, so he just nodded, and jerked his thumb towards the kitchen, fleeing as quickly as he could without appearing rude. It wasn’t much of an escape, because there was no wall separating the kitchen from the rest of the house, but Noctis was grateful for the distance.

He concentrated on the task at hand, instead. Lighting the wood stove, heating the water, staring out the window at the indigo sky while the coffee grounds steeped. When it was finished, Noctis took the mug carefully between his palms, then delivered the steaming brew to a blanket mound with Prompto’s head.

“Are you warm enough?” he asked, unable to stop the quirk of his mouth.

“Very.” The blanket mound grew a pair of arms as Prompto reached out to take it. “Thank you, Noctis.”

Noctis cleared his throat and then shrugged, folding his arms. The sound of his name was enough to shut him up, too, it seemed.

“It’s nothing,” he answered eventually.

“Your nothing puts everyone else’s nothing to shame, then,” Prompto said.

Another smile forced its way onto his face.

“Drink your coffee.”

Prompto pursed his lips to blow at the too-hot liquid. “I will, once you sit your ass down.”

Noctis bit at the inside of his cheek, but he couldn’t control his mouth anymore--the smile wanted to stay. “Sure.”

In the kitchen, he took a second mug from the shelf above the sink and filled it with what remained. Prompto watched him round the sofa to sit at the opposite end. His gaze held questions, but Noctis waited, sipping from his own coffee and looking at the fire.

The quiet rasp of Prompto’s voice didn’t surprise Noctis when that curiosity got the best of him.

“How long have you lived here?”

“Almost thirteen years.” He caught the slight widening of Prompto’s eyes as he shifted on the sofa to give him his full attention. “How long have you sailed with The Adagium?”

“Just ten.”

“How does one become a pirate, anyway?” Noctis asked.

“Depends on the person,” Prompto replied. “Most join up because they have no prospects on land.”

“And you?”

Something he’d wondered for a very long time. Prompto drank from his mug and then gracefully lifted one shoulder.

“I was born at sea. Never known anything else.”

“Neither have I.”

Prompto’s gaze flicked up to meet his. Noctis couldn’t tell what he was thinking, but a familiar melancholy seemed to settle over Prompto as he asked his next question.

“Are you happy?”

Noctis almost laughed. He honestly couldn’t remember if anyone had ever asked him that before. “I don’t know,” he said, because it was true. “Are you?”

Looking away into the fire, Prompto let out a sigh. “It’s complicated.”

That much Noctis could have guessed himself.

“We do have all night.”

Prompto scoffed and hunched even further into the corner of the sofa. “I’m pretty sure you don’t really wanna hear about my stupid life.”

Except that he did. Very much. Noctis gripped his coffee mug a bit tighter to stop himself from reaching over.

“Pretty sure you’re wrong,” he murmured.

Immediately, Prompto perked up, his eyebrows raised in some combination of hope and disbelief.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” Noctis smiled. “You can start anywhere. Just tell me something.”

The answering tilt of Prompto’s mouth was crooked and sweet and it caused a new kind of warmth to spread through him. A gentle affection for the way all of Prompto’s thoughts flickered across his face like firelight. Noctis could have watched him for hours.

Now, though, Prompto’s expression grew somber as he peered down into his coffee and contemplated what to say. The house creaked around them when the wind picked up, howling through the tree branches outside.

“At night, when the waters are calm, my favorite place to be is up in the crow’s nest,” Prompto began slowly. “It’s like sitting on top of the world, ‘cause I feel like I can reach out and touch the edge of the sea. The boys’ll usually stay up late on nights like those, singing and drinking. Sometimes I sing with them and...I think I’m almost happy then. Wish I could capture that feeling in a bottle or something, so I can look at it when things aren’t so nice.”

It was a beautiful image, but to Noctis it sounded lonely. Like Prompto could only find solace in isolation. He recognized himself in that sentiment, at least.

“Do you like singing?” Noctis asked, making Prompto squint at him.

“Not gonna happen, buddy.”

He laughed and held one of his hands up. “It was just a question.”

“Nice try,” Prompto muttered wryly from behind his mug. He took a large gulp, then leaned forward, elbows on knees. “Okay, your turn.”

“What?”

Prompto rolled his eyes. He was practically bouncing in his seat. “I told you something good, now it’s your turn.”

Noctis chuckled, somewhat baffled by the transformation he’d witnessed over the course of the day. It fascinated him, how one person could be so many things.

“There’s nothing to tell,” he replied.

“That’s bullshit,” Prompto argued, nearly grinning.

Propping an arm against the back of the sofa, Noctis leaned forward as well, determined to avoid this topic.

“Do you ever get bored, being a pirate?”

“All the time.” Prompto stared right back, accepting the challenge. “Do you ever get bored, staying in the same damn place your whole life?”

His lips twitched despite his efforts. “Yes.”

“But ships come in and out port every day and you never leave,” Prompto pointed out. “Iggy told me he asked you, once.”

“Then you already know what I said in response.”

A ripple of frustration passed over Prompto’s features.

“Why?”

Noctis released a long sigh. It wasn’t that he had anything to hide. His life was unexceptional and needed no commentary, but if Prompto wanted to know? Well...

“If I tell you, can I ask why you were so upset tonight?” Noctis tried.

Prompto’s shoulders slumped, but he didn’t outright refuse. 

“It’s a long story.”

“I don’t have to report in at the master attendant’s office until after sunrise.”

“What about _ sleep _?” Prompto blurted.

Noctis laughed. “One night won’t kill me,” he said and then sobered, recalling the reason for this sacrifice. “Also, I saw the requisition form Aranea submitted. It’ll be The Adagium’s shortest visit to date.”

Which meant there wouldn’t be another opportunity like this for quite some time.

The reminder took the rest of the wind out of Prompto’s proverbial sails. “Almost forgot,” he very nearly pouted.

“Yeah.”

Although, Noctis was glad to have spent time with him at all.

“So…” Prompto started, gaze honed in on Noctis with intense focus. “Why don’t you wanna leave?”

He tucked a loose strand of hair behind his ear and let himself stare back.

“Would you believe me if I said I was a coward?” Noctis asked.

“No,” Prompto answered without a shred of hesitation. “And if you really _ were _ a coward, Aranea wouldn’t say such nice things about you.”

It was impossible not to be skeptical of that statement. Noctis quirked an eyebrow.

“She says nice things?”

Prompto grinned. “Quartermaster Highwind thinks you’d make a great sailor. Because you’re smart and you don’t take anyone’s crap.”

This was certainly news. Aranea’s habit of entering a state of constant drunkenness while in port meant Noctis very rarely took anything she said seriously. Which included her opinion of him.

“I didn’t realize I’d impressed her so much,” he said.

“Gladio and Iggy would say the same,” Prompto added.

The optimism in Prompto’s voice almost made him feel guilty. Noctis didn’t want to be the reason it faded, but he shook his head anyway.

“I’m not cut out for the sea.”

“Have you ever tried?”

Noctis gave him a tight smile. “It doesn’t matter, Prompto.”

But Prompto didn’t back down. “I think it does,” he insisted, looking at Noctis with those big, impossibly blue eyes full of all that sincerity.

It was too much to hold, so Noctis looked at his coffee instead and swirled the last few sips around in his mug.

“Then we’ll have to agree to disagree.”

Prompto emitted a small noise of frustration.

“Gladio wasn’t lying when he called you a stubborn shithead.”

Surprising himself, Noctis erupted with laughter, his shoulders shaking with the force of it. Then Prompto joined in--a few chuckles turning into uncontrollable giggles--and suddenly they were both very close to tears.

“Well,” Noctis gasped, swiping at his eyes. “Now you know.”

Prompto couldn’t speak yet, one hand clutching his stomach and the other about to drop his coffee cup. They both struggled to breathe, but at least Noctis had enough sense to rescue the mug from an untimely death, and set each on the floor beside the sofa.

He slumped back against the pillows, enjoying the warm flush under his skin as well as the one spread across Prompto’s freckled cheeks. He was even more gorgeous like this. Relaxed and comfortable in his sprawl, the blanket pooled around his waist, one leg dangling over the edge of the cushions. Struck by a wave of boldness, Noctis reached out with his foot, nudging the tip of his boot into Prompto’s sock-covered toes.

“Your turn,” he said.

Prompto drew his bottom lip between his teeth and then folded his legs up against his chest. “You ever heard of Captain Argentum?” he asked, chin dropping to one of his knees.

“Of course. They still sing songs about her at The Syren’s Rest.”

“That’s my mom.”

Noctis’s eyebrows flew upwards. “You’re kidding.”

Prompto snorted. “No. Both my parents were pirates. My dad was her quartermaster for years, even after I’d been born,” he explained, gaze wandering as he spoke. “I grew up on that ship. Got my sea legs before my land legs. But my dad died when I was sixteen and she retired right after. So I got dumped on one of her _ dear _ old friends.”

The note of bitterness rang clear.

“Captain Izunia,” Noctis confirmed.

“He was a privateer before he turned his back on the North, but even then him and my mom were thick as thieves. Cut from the same canvas, those two,” Prompto said, voice going quiet again. “Captain Izunia likes having me around ‘cause of my name, mostly. It carries weight, he says, and influence. But I feel like that’s all I am to him. Just a symbol he can parade around when it’s convenient. He has very high expectations of us, me most of all, and they’re not always easy to meet. Sometimes I think he doesn’t actually like me very much.”

The day’s events finally made sense. Noctis found his chest had become a bit overfull at the admission, though, and he leaned closer, wanting to console, but not knowing how.

“Why don’t you join another crew?”

“And be a crushing disappointment to my mother?” Prompto countered. He huffed and shook his head. “It’s not worth it. Gladio, Iggy and Aranea look out for me when they can. But they’ve gotta work, too, y’know? And it’s not all bad. The crew of the Adagium is my family, even if the Captain _ is _ a prick.”

A fair point. No aspect of life would ever be perfect, Noctis knew this well. Perhaps too well.

“You could captain your own ship,” he suggested.

“Are you _ insane _? No.” Prompto scowled. “I’m not exactly captain material.”

Noctis had only truly been in Prompto’s company for a brief moment, yet a disagreement had leapt onto his tongue with such swiftness, he couldn’t hold it back.

“I think you could be.”

Prompto’s eyes locked onto his, those freckled cheeks blooming red all over again.

“I think there’s something wrong with your head.”

“My head is fine,” Noctis insisted wryly.

Another smile flashed across Prompto’s face and he tried to hide it behind his knees, peering at Noctis from underneath pale lashes.

“You’re obviously the only idiot here,” Prompto muttered.

He grinned, the fond warmth in his chest only expanding further. “I can be an idiot and still be right.”

Prompto tsked, but didn’t answer. Noctis could still make out the curled edge of his mouth, though, and that was answer enough.

Across from them, the fire crackled in short, hissing pops and bursts. He watched the sunset hues play over Prompto’s features, imagining him as the child of the sea who grew up under the long cast of his mother’s shadow. Noctis had no idea what that was like, he’d never had to carry the weight of so many expectations, not even as a boy.

“Would you change your life if you could?” he asked. “Choose another path. One where your name didn’t mean anything.”

Prompto’s eyes had fallen shut, but he wasn’t asleep, and he hummed absently in thought.

“Dunno. The sea’s always been my home,” Prompto said, yawning when he continued. “Wouldn’t even know how to start doing anything else.”

Noctis could sympathize with that. It’s not like he dreamed of being a master attendant’s assistant, it’s simply where he ended up.

“What do you love most about being a sailor?”

Another wide yawn. Prompto’s grip around his legs began to slacken and he tipped over against the back of the couch, eyes half-lidded and drooping.

“Mmm...ocean air in my lungs. New discoveries. Did Gladio ever tell you ‘bout the giant lizard? _ Man _, that was crazy.”

Noctis let out a small chuckle. “Yeah, he did.”

“Thing was _ huge _.” Prompto smiled as his eyelids fell all the way shut. “He looked like such a-- such an ass tryin’ to catch it.”

“He looked like an ass telling the story, too.”

The sweetest, laziest giggle bubbled up from Prompto’s throat and he sighed. “Wish I’d a’seen it.”

“You and me both,” Noctis murmured, voice low.

When he knew Prompto had well and truly nodded off, Noctis carefully pulled the blanket up around his shoulders. A glance towards the window told him dawn was on its way, deep indigo turning powdery and bleak. He probably wouldn’t find any rest tonight.

The warmth of the fire was fading, but Noctis wasn’t cold, not with a slumbering Prompto beside him and a whole night’s worth of good spirits to keep him company. Even when he got lost staring out at the lightening sky. Noctis didn’t actually put much faith in fate, but he was starting to wonder if he should. He seemed to constantly be intersecting with The Adagium and her crew in new and different ways.

Was it a sign? Doubtful, at best. Noctis could only explain it as an opportunity he may not ever take.

Looking away from the gray sky, he turned back to his softly snoring guest, finding Prompto’s expression completely relaxed in sleep. Vulnerable and at peace, not a single trace of melancholy lingered. His heart squeezed, thinking of the storm Prompto kept locked inside of himself, and wished there was something he could do to ease such a burden. If Noctis had the power, Prompto would know nothing but clear skies and fair winds. As it was, all he could offer was a safe place to catch his breath.

Perhaps that was enough.

  


❀⊱┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄⊰❀

  
  


“I’ll need you to deliver these to Captains Leonis, Fleuret, and Tummelt as soon as possible,” Weskham instructed, unceremoniously depositing three bundles of rolled parchments into Noctis’s arms.

Galvenn’s port was more crowded now than it had been in months, Captain Leonis having only just pulled into the harbor at sunrise. It also meant Noctis barely had a moment to allow a stray thought to enter his mind. Which was impossible, since he couldn’t help wondering if Prompto had found his way back all right. Did he sleep well? Had he found the note and the coat Noctis left for him? How was h--

“Master Caelum.”

Noctis fumbled with the papers and snapped to attention. “Yes, sir.”

Weskham quirked an amused brow, shaking his head.

“Allow me to get the door for you.”

He nodded. “Thank you, sir.”

“How many times have I told you to stop calling me that?” Weskham chided, then pulled hard on the heavy wooden door to the office.

Distracted, Noctis didn’t notice that the entryway was already occupied. 

“Sorry, it’s ha--h-hi,” he blurted clumsily, almost walking right into the very person he least expected.

“Morning!” Prompto chirped.

Noctis swallowed and his face grew warm, somewhat unprepared for the force of Prompto’s brilliant grin in broad daylight. Or the way his strange eyes seemed to change color, like the sea.

The loud noise of someone clearing their throat made Noctis jump and he tried not to drop all the documents at once.

Weskham chuckled, patting him on the shoulder. “I’ll ah, leave you to it, then.”

He offered Prompto an apologetic smile of his own. “Hi,” he repeated and mentally urged himself to stop being such a graceless fool. Which wasn’t easy, when Prompto was standing there wearing his clothes. “You found the coat.”

Prompto glanced down, running his hands over the worn, midnight blue fabric. It was simple, but suited him perfectly, complementing the brighter tone of the beads in his hair. Noctis had half a mind to make him keep it.

“Yeah, it’s really comfortable. Thank you,” Prompto said, still grinning.

The warmth under his skin intensified.

“You’re welcome.”

Then Prompto gestured at the mountain of parchment in his grasp. “Do you need help with those?”

“Uh, no. It’s fine,” he breathed out a laugh. He didn’t know why he suddenly felt so awkward. “Part of the job.”

Prompto’s expression lit up.

“Speaking of jobs. When are you done for the day?”

“Usually not until evening.”

“He’ll be available this afternoon, four o’clock,” Weskham suddenly called from the desk in the middle of the room.

Noctis whipped his head around in confusion. “S-sir?”

“You haven’t taken a day off in years, Noctis.”

It was true. There hadn’t been a reason to, and so he never bothered. Until now.

“Thank you, sir.”

“Four o’clock it is, then,” Prompto confirmed.

His heart thumped a bit wildly in his chest as he turned back around.

“Did you have something in mind?” Noctis asked.

“No.” Prompto rocked forward on the balls of his feet, tugging at the edge of his coat sleeve, anxious. “Just wanted to spend more time with you, if that’s okay.”

“Of course it’s okay,” he answered and caught Prompto’s gaze, holding it. “More than okay.”

It seemed important to emphasize that, even though he was relatively certain he’d made it clear the night before. Prompto’s lips curved in another brilliant arc, his freckles dusted with pink. Noctis knew he would never tire of the sight.

“Okay.” Prompto said and laughed slightly, then began walking backwards, hand lifted in farewell. “See you later, Noct!”

He’d heard the nickname used by countless others over the years, but only from that mouth--spoken in the shape of a smile--did it make him feel like he might leave the very earth and float away into the ether.

“Master Caelum,” Weskham called again. “To work, please.”

“Right.”

Noctis spared Prompto’s retreating form one last look before heading in the opposite direction. His steps were light on the cobblestones, the wind tugging playfully at his hair. He swore if this giddiness dogged him for the next seven hours, he wouldn’t come out on the other side alive.

  
  


❀⊱┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄⊰❀

  
  


Galvenn Harbor’s steady, thriving rhythm didn’t ebb once the sun dipped low in the sky. It was a constant pulse throughout the day and Noctis had loved it from the moment he arrived, wet behind the ears, with stars in his eyes. There was something comforting about it, despite the monotony. Something reliable. Except that every now and again, he needed an escape from it all. A way to pluck himself out of the clockwork and take that much needed breath.

He’d found the answer years ago, when he went wandering through the forests in the hills above the city and discovered a poorly maintained path. Out of curiosity, and perhaps stupidity, he’d followed it. But where it lead him had been nothing short of remarkable.

That was where he wanted to bring Prompto. To share a private part of himself, like Prompto had done for him. 

Noctis leaned against the façade of the master attendant’s office, waiting the last few minutes before the bell tolled four, strangely nervous. He liked Prompto more than he’d ever liked anyone and knowing that he’d be gone with first light tomorrow…

His stomach tightened unpleasantly. Noctis really didn’t want to screw this up.

“Hey!” a now familiar voice shouted from down the lane.

Prompto waved as he jogged closer, panting from exertion and still wearing that brilliant, sunny smile.

“I’m not keeping you from anything, am I?” Noctis asked once he’d come to a stop.

“Nope. I’m all yours,” Prompto sighed, then swiftly turned an alarming shade of red, hands fluttering all over the place. “I-I mean-- you know what I mean.”

He did, in fact, know what Prompto meant. But Noctis liked the sound of “yours”, regardless of the definition.

“Yeah.” He nodded, grinning despite the tempest of butterfly wings raging inside of him. Noctis pushed off from the wall and starting walking towards the city center. “Come on.”

“W-where are we going?” Prompto skipped across the cobblestones to keep up.

“Somewhere special. It’s a bit of a hike.”

“_ Great _.”

“I know,” he laughed, then tucked his hair behind his ear, stealing a glance at Prompto when he fell into step beside him. “It’s not my favorite thing, either. But trust me, it’s worth it.”

Prompto’s lips curled upward and he leaned closer to bump their shoulders together. “I do.”

Noctis grinned again. The giddiness threatened to consume him, at this rate, so he said nothing, not trusting his heart with his tongue. It was enough to walk next to Prompto in companionable silence, weaving through the busier parts of town, their arms brushing every once in a while.

When they stepped aside to let a carriage pass, Prompto’s hand pressed to the small of his back and Noctis honestly thought he would catch fire. He could still feel it even as they left the crowds for quieter avenues. It made him want to jump out of his own skin, getting so worked up over something so inconsequential, but he couldn’t help it. With Prompto, he was an inexperienced youth all over again. Floundering through his feelings as if he’d never had them before.

Their eyes kept skittering toward one another, and then apart. Noctis lead them from cobblestone to gravel to the springy whisper of thick grass, leaving the harsh noise of Galvenn behind.

“Are we there yet?” Prompto whined.

They’d been climbing at a steady incline for quite a while, using the same poorly maintained path Noctis had found all those years ago. It wound through dense trees and underbrush, safe from the whipping winds. But that also meant there was no breeze to dry the beaded sweat on his brow.

“Almost, I promise,” he tossed over his shoulder, a bit breathless as he pushed aside a branch to pass.

Ahead, the orange glow of early sunset through the leaves told him they had arrived. The dense foliage parted to reveal a wide clearing that overlooked the city, the harbor, and the infinite expanse of the sea. Noctis was already out of breath, yet the view took what little was left every time.

“Well, I’ll be damned,” Prompto said, voice quiet with awe.

“Told you so.”

They moved forward towards the cliff’s edge, revealing more rolling waters beneath a colorful sky, dotted with clouds. The enormity of it all would probably always overwhelm him. The world, stretching out into forever.

“How did you even find this place?” Prompto asked.

Noctis shrugged. “I got lost.”

“Why doesn’t that surprise me.”

His mouth quirked as he shoved sweat-dampened hair away from his face, then removed his coat and loosened his cravat, enjoying the sudden coolness.

“Are you implying I have a poor sense of direction?” Noctis asked.

“I’m implying you never would’ve walked that far just on a lark,” Prompto retorted, but he was smiling, too.

“That’s fair,” Noctis chuckled. 

He draped his coat over one of the larger rocks near the edge and took a seat, drawing in a lungful of crisp, salted sea air.

“Sit with me,” Noctis beckoned, patting the cold stone. 

Prompto did, close enough that they were connected shoulder to knee. It sent a thrill through his very core, and Noctis wondered if perhaps he had gone too long without physical contact from others. Or if it was just the company.

“It’s, um, it’s not a crow’s nest or anything,” he said, needing to divert all his attention from the line of Prompto’s heat along his side. “But I come here sometimes. When I need perspective.”

“The feeling’s the same,” Prompto replied.

“Lonely?” Noctis dared.

Prompto exhaled a tired laugh and leaned into him.

“Yeah.”

It hurt to hear it confirmed, no matter that he’d assumed it to be true. “You said The Adagium was your family, what makes you lonely?”

“The expectations of others can make you feel pretty worthless, I guess,” Prompto answered, rocking both of them as he raked a hand through his hair and gestured at the world at large. “I mean, I know I’m a good sailor. I _ know _ that. I was born on a ship caught in the middle of a storm, for fuck’s sake. I just--” he groaned in frustration. “Can’t seem to make myself believe it’s enough.”

Noctis had never been someone with the innate talent of knowing exactly what to say in moments like these. But the urge to comfort Prompto returned with such fierceness that he didn’t bother trying to repress it.

Reaching over, Noctis took Prompto’s hand in his own, and Prompto stared back at him in wide-eyed silence. He smiled, dropping his head into his other hand as he dragged his thumb along so many bumps and scars. Skin toughened by a lifetime of hard work. That said more than words ever could.

“Why do you let Captain Izunia get to you so much?” Noctis asked.

“I really don’t know.” Prompto paused and squeezed his hand tightly. “Iggy always tells me I need to ignore him when he starts to get to me, but it’s not easy.”

“My dad was a little like that. He knew exactly which strings to pull to make me dance,” Noctis said.

“How’d you get over it?”

“I ran away.”

Prompto’s expression brightened as he laughed loudly, the joyful, wry sound ringing out over the cliffs.

“We have excellent coping mechanisms.”

“You could say that,” Noctis huffed, relieved to see amusement glittering in Prompto’s eyes again.

The sun began to sink closer to the ocean, setting the sky ablaze with rich pinks and reds. It was magnificent, but they didn’t have much time left, and Noctis had been curious about something since last night.

“If I asked you to sing for me, would you?”

Prompto blinked at him, obviously not expecting the question. “Right now?”

“There’s no better time than now,” Noctis said.

He hadn’t intended to bring the mood down again, but now was what they had, and he wanted to make the most of it. 

“Okay.” Prompto nodded, looking at their clasped hands. He turned his over to push calloused fingers between Noctis’s and held tight.

For a long moment, Prompto seemed to contemplate what to sing, brow furrowed in concentration. Then the corner of his mouth twitched up into a smirk and it was all the warning Noctis had before the opening notes burst forth into the evening air.

“O’ come all young sailors and listen to me,

I’ll sing to you the dangers awaiting thee

Of sweet, bonnie voices deep in the night,

That ride on the breeze b’neath the moonlight

O’ beware the silver winds, boys

Beware the silver winds

They’ll send you to your grave, boys

All hope be lost therein.”

Prompto’s clear, resounding tenor was so unexpectedly beautiful. The raspy cadence of each word bounced out of him with practiced ease, vibrating right through Noctis and making a home in his chest. He could only sit there and watch as Prompto came alive right in front of him, revelry personified. 

“The Syren’s spell, once cast, is sure,

No will of man can stay the lure

Her handsome promise of fates untold,

Too fair a fortune, spun through with gold

O’ beware the silver winds, boys

Beware the silver winds

They’ll send you to your grave, boys--”

The affection Noctis held for Prompto in this moment was immeasurable, and before the second refrain was over, he gave in to impulse and swayed closer to kiss Prompto on his adorably freckled cheek.

Stunned, Prompto turned, a flush spreading across his face as he stammered, “W-what was that for?”

“No reason,” Noctis murmured. “Sorry for interrupting.”

“You can, uh, interrupt me with your, um...mouth a-anytime,” Prompto nearly whispered.

They were still close, the warmth of Prompto’s breath ghosting over his lips. Lips that a pair of stunning blue eyes continued to glance at and Noctis smiled, leaning in again, to kiss him proper.

Prompto sighed into it, his free hand lifting to cup Noctis’s jaw, and Noctis pressed closer still, heart about to beat right out of his damn ribcage. It was like the sea itself was roaring in his ears even as it crashed against the rocks below; the evening wind swirling around them and catching at their clothes. Noctis hummed in happiness despite all of this, enjoying Prompto’s touch, the slide of that soft mouth against his. Their shared heat, the spark of want igniting low in his belly.

When Noctis pulled away with a gasp, he pushed his forehead against Prompto’s, and laughed.

“If we don’t stop now, I fear I’ll keep kissing you until the moon rises,” he confessed.

Prompto nudged at his nose, grinning. “I definitely wouldn’t mind.”

“We should still head back before we lose the light.”

“How long does it take to get to your house from here?” Prompto asked, drawing back.

Noctis paused to think. “Two quarters of an hour, give or take?”

Prompto dragged his thumb across Noctis’s cheekbone, ducking in to steal another quick kiss.

“I’ll race you.”

Noctis didn’t even have a moment to react, Prompto already hopping off the rock and halfway to the treeline.

“Prompto!” he shouted, almost giving in to a wave of giggles when the idiot just waved his arms above his head and kept going.

Gathering his coat, Noctis sprinted after him through the tall grasses, following Prompto’s whoops of glee further down the slope.

“C’mon, I’ve seen algae grow faster than you!” Prompto teased.

The sound of their mirth echoed back and forth amongst the trees and the sea wind howled through the branches, as if eager to join in.

  
  


❀⊱┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄⊰❀

  
  


Dawn arrived far too soon the next day, bearing with it a clutter of emotions that sat heavy in Noctis’s stomach like coiled rope. He accompanied Prompto down to the port, their fingers tangled between them, no energy for small talk that would do them no good. The Adagium was still leaving, taking Prompto with her to places Noctis couldn’t reach.

Galvenn was particularly cold this morning and he shivered when the wind tore through the harbor, seeming as upset as he was. Above, the blanket of gray sky promised rain--a perfect stage for reluctant goodbyes.

“There he is!” Gladio shouted, spotting them from the main deck as they stepped onto the wooden dock planks. “Almost thought we’d lost another one.”

“Not a chance, big guy,” Prompto called back, but it carried none of his usual enthusiasm.

They stopped at the edge of the gangplank. Noctis smiled and tried to dredge up some of the elation he’d felt only yesterday, reminding himself that two months wasn’t really that long.

“I’ll be here waiting and you’ll be back in no time at all.”

“That doesn’t help,” Prompto huffed. “You shouldn’t have to wait.”

Noctis sighed, squeezing his hand. “It is what it is. We’ve done it before.”

“Yeah, but we didn’t have _ this _ before,” Prompto argued as he stepped closer and let his head fall against Noctis’s shoulder.

Without thinking about, he brought his other hand up, sliding his fingers into Prompto’s hair. 

“I know.”

Prompto clutched at the fabric of his coat and took in a steadying breath before stepping away.

“Oi, Prompto! Captain wants you in his office,” a member of the crew hollered from the ship. “‘fore he grows a beard, he says.”

Rolling his eyes, Prompto scrubbed at his face, but Noctis had already seen the telltale shine of tears.

“Don’t cry, you’ll make me cry,” he chuckled, busying himself with straightening out the collar of the coat he’d given Prompto. For good, this time.

“I’m trying.”

“_ Prompto! _”

“Shit,” Prompto whined. The shadow of sadness that fell over him nearly tore Noctis’s heart in two.

“It’s okay,” Noctis said. Even though it wasn’t.

Without preamble, Prompto launched himself at Noctis, wrapping him up in the tightest embrace he had ever known. A bone-creaking hug, one that packed everything unsaid into one, simple gesture. And as fast as it had happened, it was over--Prompto disappearing in a flash over the edge of the gunwale before Noctis had a chance to register his absence.

Ignis materialized beside him, a comforting hand landing firmly on his shoulder.

“It seems my advice was unnecessary.”

Noctis forced another smile, and nodded.

“Hey, Ignis?” he blurted. 

Ignis turned, halfway up the gangplank, and regarded him with patient curiosity. Noctis folded his arms, squinting against the brightening sky.

“Do me a favor and try showing him a little more love, instead of assuming he already knows.”

“You could always come aboard, Noct,” Ignis replied, completely nonplussed. Though those green eyes seemed to be laughing at him. “Show him the love he so clearly deserves for yourself.”

Over the top of the gunwale, Prompto’s head popped into view, as if he’d hung around against orders to listen in on their conversation. Which was probably exactly what he'd done.

Noctis didn’t have to force his smile this time, the lead in his stomach growing feather-light with every second that his mind raced, debating whether or not he was mad enough to say yes. To spontaneously leave behind the safety he’d found in hesitation. Prompto made him impulsive. Made Noctis think about possibility instead of what simply was. A notion he’d given up on as he got older. That terrifying sense of _ what if? _

Prompto’s soulful blue gaze met his, both eyebrows raised in hopeful arches. Noctis would welcome an eternity of “what ifs”, if it meant he got to stumble through all of them with the people he cared about at his side.

“When do you weigh anchor?” he asked Ignis.

“What’s going on?” Aranea butted in as she stomped onto the dock behind him, but no one answered.

“Approximately three quarters of an hour,” Ignis told him, appearing unsurprisingly satisfied.

Looking at Prompto, Noctis grinned. “I’ll be back in two.”

“Wait a godsdamned minute, are you coming with us?” Aranea shouted as he skipped into a run and breezed past her.

“You said you wanted another smart-ass, didn’t you?” he yelled, dodging other dock workers on his way.

Noctis didn’t need to hear her cackle of delight to know that she approved of his decision, but it still added to the general feeling of euphoria coursing through him.

The sharp, ocean wind whipped through the harbor and pushed insistently at his back, encouraging him to go faster.

_ I know _ , Noctis replied. _ I finally heard you. _

But the wind kept pushing, anyway.

**Author's Note:**

> first part in a series of fics, to be posted whenever. the next will probably be a gladnis companion fic to this one.
> 
> looking for anyone who might be interested in beta-ing! you can message me here or on twitter @queercosmos where i yell about games and anime and these four nerds. please come yell with me <3333
> 
> regardless, thanks for reading :)


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